Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Roth Capital

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) was downgraded by research analysts at Roth Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $769.00 price target on the retailer’s stock. Roth Capital’s target price suggests a potential downside of 10.64% from the stock’s current price.

COST has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,125.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,134.00 to $1,146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $992.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $860.56 on Monday. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $851.40 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market cap of $382.05 billion, a PE ratio of 46.09, a P/E/G ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $915.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $949.15.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $67.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 29.35% and a net margin of 2.96%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.04 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,860,260. The trade was a 54.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. Luminist Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 9.4% in the first quarter. Luminist Capital LLC now owns 128 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Birchbrook Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the first quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 456 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.4% in the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 159 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.4% during the second quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.4% in the second quarter. Hobbs Wealth Management LLC now owns 262 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.